Deeplinks Blog posts about Patent Trolls

Earlier this month, the Senate took patent reform off the table for this legislative session. The Senate leadership did this despite the fact that a strong bill passed in the House with overwhelming support. And thousands of constituents have called for meaningful reform to finally put an end to patent trolling.

Back in April, the Supreme Court issued a significant ruling in a case called Octane Fitness that makes it easier for defendants to collect attorney’s fees when they win patent suits. We predicted this decision could be bad news for patent trolls who bring weak cases and use the high cost of defense to extort settlements. Last Friday, Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York awarded attorney’s fees to the startup FindTheBest after it defeated a patent troll. The decision shows that Octane, in the hands of a thoughtful judge alert to patent troll abuse, can provide (at least some) justice.

In Nautilus, the Supreme Court rejected the Federal Circuit’s test for determining whether a patent claim was sufficiently “definite.” The Federal Circuit’s test, now unacceptable, would have found a claim indefinite only if it were “insolubly ambiguous.” In practice, this was a standard that was rarely, if ever, met.

EFF is proud to participate in the launch of a new guide to alternative patent licensing. The guide was prepared by the Juelsgaard Intellectual Property & Innovation Clinic at Stanford Law School in partnership with EFF, Engine, and the Open Invention Network (OIN). Written by Stanford students Marta Belcher and John Casey, the guide provides a high-level overview of defensive patent aggregators and defensive patent licenses. We hope it will be a useful starting place for companies trying to navigate the patent landscape.

Patent reform suffered a massive setback today when Senator Patrick Leahy, as chair of the Judiciary Committee, announced that he is taking patent reform “off the agenda.” We understand that other senators—particularly Sens. Chuck Schumer and John Cornyn—were still working hard to reach a bipartisan deal. Just as they were ready to release a new bill, Leahy stepped in to kill the process.